Europe condensed

You can hike at over 2000 metres through an alpine meadow one day, sip Campari at a Mediterranean beach bar the next. Explore a medieval castle before lunch and attend an alternative music festival after dinner. Hang out with students at a trendy nightclub, or sit among farmers with bristling moustaches in a village inn. 

Follow the wine trail, sail the coast, kayak through gorges, or boat on an alpine lake. In Slovenia, you don’t have to make difficult holiday choices, because you’ll find a condensed version of all Europe inside its compact borders. And while you’d expect a country alternatively controlled by Austria-Hungary, Italy, Germany and Yugoslavia to have eclectic historical influences, its vibrant and sophisticated cultural scene is a surprise. 

Start off in pocket-sized capital Ljubljana, whose old town is a huddle of medieval, Baroque and Art Nouveau buildings. The beer is Germanic in quality, the ice cream Italian and the rustic street markets distinctly central European. Presernov Square is a good place to watch the world go by: this is where locals meet up on the steps of the Franciscan Church or around the flamboyant statue.

On one level, Ljubljana might be quaint old-time Europe, but low-key charm and cutting-edge ideas coexist. Here the theatres are bursting and rather provocative Slovene conceptual art is showcased at the Moderna Galerija – when it isn’t rocking the international art world. In Metelkova City, live music hums and the former Yugoslav People’s Army complex packs in bars, artists’ studios and designer spaces.

Fifty kilometres northwest, Bled is a world away. Like a scene in a snow dome, it combines a Midori-blue lake, alpine peaks and a crag-clinging castle that barely seems changed since the genteel days of the Hapsburgs. Have yourself rowed out in a gondola-style pletna to the lake’s little island, from which sprouts the dainty Church of the Assumption, favoured by Slovenians for weddings.

The beauty of the surrounding Julian Alps invites comparison with Switzerland, but the landscapes are wilder and less touristy. Lake Bohinj is another scenic gem, yet has only a scattering of accommodations and eateries. Boating, hiking and toe-chilling swims are among activities or you can have lake trout served on a wooden platter at a rustic country restaurant, and admire reflections of the Church of St John the Baptist. 

Then hike up to Savica Falls, immortalised in Slovene poetry, or take a cable car to the scenic summit of Mt Vogel.

Further northwest, the Soča River features tumbling, turquoise alpine waters surrounded by the pine forest and peaks of Triglav National Park. Triglav has been singled out by the EDEN (European Destinations of Excellence) project for its eco-credentials, in which this little nation leads the way.

Fly fishing, white-water rafting, kayaking, biking and hiking have made the Soča River Slovenia’s top adventure destination. Don’t miss the magnificent clamber through Vintgar Gorge on wooden footbridges above foaming glacial waters. Trout swim in the pools and the rocks are covered in moss.

If you saw nothing but the Julian Alps in Slovenia it would be worth the journey, but head west from Ljubljana instead of north and you get horse farms and a karst landscape studded with vast cave systems. The worthiest are Škocjan Caves, a World Heritage site with incredible formations, limestone pools and an underground river, whose rumble is a little unnerving.

Nearby Predjama has a spectacular castle perched on a vertical slab of rock as if defying gravity. 

In an hour, you reach the Adriatic coast, wedged like an afterthought between Italy and Croatia. Its beaches will hardly win accolades from Australian visitors, but the coastline is pretty with olive groves and dotted with Venetian-era fishing ports such as Koper and Piran, jumbled with Gothic architecture and cobbled laneways.

Piran was once a salt-trading port controlled by the Venetian Empire, which explains the winged lions that smirk from its pastel-pretty facades. Wander shady lanes and sunny harbour-side promenades before tucking into seafood such as peppered swordfish filets and calamari, or other local dishes such as homemade pâté.

Alps to the north, beaches to the west, but head east and you get another slice of Europe in the vineyard-clad hillsides around Maribor. The eastern half of Slovenia, which lies on the edge of Europe’s vast steppes, gets far fewer visitors but presents pleasant scenes of vineyards and rolling hills.

Maribor is a university town of baroque chapels and little rococo palaces topped by a castle, where longhaired university students flop under chestnut trees – the sort of lazy place where you can happily spend a day or two browsing the flea market, rambling the riverfront, and admiring views from the cathedral tower.

Maribor has a reputation for avant-garde jazz and artistic creativity and hosts an eclectic array of festivals. The former Pekarna military bakery has been turned into a hip cultural centre with a concert hall for alternative music.

Maribor has an added attraction – it sits among vineyards and has wine-tasting rooms and sleek cellar doors which demonstrate how much Slovenia’s wines have improved of late. At the beautifully-renovated Victorian-era cellar Toti Rotovž in the cellar beneath the town hall, you can match your wines with classic dishes such as wild boar, or strudel made from sour cherries. A toast to Slovenia is in order – after all, where else can you enjoy the best of Europe’s variety in such effortless style?